Ember
by Faded Into The Dawn
Summary: The world has aged since the beginning and it is time for renewal, though if the renewal happens, everything they have will dissolve in war and chaos. But, however there are those who think seven can stop it, stop the war, and save the need for a renewal. Stop the bloody Spike from taking reign, and save the world as they know it.
1. Prologue- The Story

_**-Ember-**_

_**Prologue: The Story**_

* * *

**H**ello, my name is Brokenfang, a Curatric of the Ancients, or in your tongue, guardian of the Ancients. I feel the need to pass onto you a story which has been kept secret for many generations, but must be kept a secret no longer, for the world is following the same path, making the same mistakes which can only lead to disaster and war. We barely escaped the demolition of the world the last time. The cats have only hardened over the Ages, and not become much wiser than we who lived before. Those who speak of the stars and the path that they have destined us to walk are scorned and mocked. Faith is falling faster than ever. We in the stars always knew it would happen, but we did not believe it could be so soon. Enough about the time as it is now, that is a story for later. Right now, we are speaking of the past, going back to the time of Ancients, when the world was only beginning...

If you may not trust my accounts of this past, to know what every one of these cats felt, you are sadly mistaken. For as long as I live, I feel every pain, every illness of others. But let's not dwell on that, shall we, for the story begins...

* * *

The world became hardened, StarClan was in shatters, and the realms of both living and after were at war.

* * *

No, that is not where this story starts. It is not in the midst of a terrible war which took so many lives that it would be impossible to count them. No, it does not start there. It starts earlier than that, when everything was quiet enough, and an argument began.

* * *

"That's the most mouse-brained idea I've ever heard, Change!" Celestial, the youngest of the Ancients of Ancients shouted.

"Really? And what better can _you_ come up with?" The dark ginger tom glared, his fiery amber eyes flashing dangerously.

"Well, plenty of things that doesn't involve spiraling everything we've worked so hard for into war!" The she-cat scoffed, flicking her tail.

"Like what?" Change challenged, his tail lashing.

"Maybe..." She trailed off, finding that every option led into war.

"That's what I thought." Change meowed smugly, relaxing his stance.

"Are you sure they are ready for this so early on?" Celestial asked quietly.

"Well, let them go to war as we restart the world or let everything explode?!" Change's voice lowered. "There's no real choice, Celestial. Cats will die either way, and wouldn't you much rather there be some left?"

"I'm afraid there is no choice then. Let's at least give them some time. How long do we have?"

"The process will take about three moons, perhaps longer, meaning we should give a moon for the process to end, and so they will have two moons longer of peace before the war begins." Change met Celestial's eyes solemnly.

"We had better tell the others."

* * *

That is the beginning, what started it all. That is all I know at least, as far into the beginning I can learn. The rest is the past, the past I lived through, as well as many others. I know that many cats lived a short life in the war, and that I am extremely lucky to have lived as long as I did through the war. But I must rest for now, that took much out of me, to begin this story and begin to relive the terrible war.

* * *

_**AN: Sorry for this AN, but to let everyone know, every two weeks, starting today, I will upload a new chapter of this story. Bye, and hope you enjoy!**_

_**-Faded ;3**_


	2. Chapter 1- Celestial

**AN: Sorry everyone! I'm on vacation in Florida and completely lost track of the days! So sorry! :( I will upload more often, I promise! Sorries! :)**

**-Faded ;3**

"Breeze, try again. This time try slashing your tail to exert more force. Blaze, put out that fire before it burns the whole forest down! Mist, help your brother, will you, and then try again, but try to get more range. Vale, try not to impale yourself, and try a larger attack this time, cover more area." A beautiful shimmering light brown she-cat ordered, her leafy green eyes firm.

Breeze nodded, smiling at the she-cat, and the she-cat winked back. She took a deep breath and slashed her tail through her tail, imagining she was ordering an army to attack, closing her eyes in the anticipation. She opened them to see a big jagged hole in the tree in front of her and everyone blown away behind her. Breeze smiled again, really genuinely happy this time. She had always been the weakest one, the runt of her siblings. Breeze had always brought back the less kills even though she could hunt prey down quicker than them. She never really had been that amazing at fighting. Her powers she had only discovered a moon ago, and even that had been an accident. She had been eating her prey and her older brother had snatched it and took it away, laughing with his lady-friend, Seed, a mind-warper or mind-reader, a mean tan she-cat with blood-red eyes. After a moment though he threw it back, charred and black. Breeze stared daggers at the both of them and her brother flew back towards the cave wall, and Seed developed a slash in her fur that resembled a 'B' before flying back as well. Breeze ran towards her brother, having a bad feeling she might have done a moment, she ran to get the healer, Mint.

* * *

A few days later, Breeze had been met by her great-grandmother, Leaf, in a dream. "W-who are you?" Breeze stuttered at the beauty of the she-cat before her.

"Oh, how you have grown, my mighty one. Ah, Breeze, I am Leaf, your great-grandmother as well as the goddess of nature, as you might know me from your teachings."

At this, Breeze grew quite bitter. "Why would you be here for me then?" She spat. "I'm not like them, I don't have any powers. I'm the runt, the hiccup of the family. I'm just a regular cat in the Ancient Council, and normal cats don't belong. If it's what you're here for, don't worry, I'm leaving tomorrow at dawn. I just need to say goodbye first."

Leaf stared at Breeze in shock. "Breeze... My dear. What has happened to you? You have grown into a bitter shell of who you once were. Who has done this to you?"

"What do you care?" Breeze spat, absently trailing a claw in the dirt. "You would have known already, had you cared about me at all!"

There was silence for many long moments between the two she-cats. "Blaze and Seed." Breeze finally said, her words as soft as the gentle breeze in a hot summer day.

"Oh no... Breeze, you are not like them,"

"I know this already." Breeze meowed with a sigh.

"Let me finish. Breeze, you are not like them at all. You are stronger than them combined in a whisker. Breeze, you do have powers, did you not see them when you threw back Seed and Blaze the other day? That was you, as much as you may want to argue. Breeze, you were named as you were for a reason. You have the power of wind, the power of air. Never give up hope. It is always there, in the little corner of your heart..."

Breeze stared in wonder as Leaf and her surroundings began to fade. Finally, she had something to live for!

* * *

The light brown she-cat smiled at her now. "Oh, Breeze! You are coming further along faster than any of us would have thought!" Breeze smiled at her mentor, her great-grandmother, Leaf.

"Good job little sister." Vale, her older brother grinned, setting his tail on her shoulders.

"Look at you, sis! Doing great, you are! You'll be up to our level in no time!" Mist congratulated, but instead of placing her paw on Breeze's shoulder, she splashed Breeze instead with a neat splash of water.

"Mist!" Breeze laughed, shaking, trying to get the water out of her fur.

"What?" Mist asked innocently, looking at her, licking a paw.

"Oh, sis." Breeze laughed again, ever amused by her sister's antics.

Blaze growled in the far corner of the clearing, flames shooting out of his nostrils and adding to the amount of flames he was trying to put out already. There was a short silence, as they waited for Blaze to say something. Breeze's spirit dampened, as much as she would try to protest that it doesn't matter.

Leaf shook her head, giving Blaze a disapproving frown. 'If this happened to be anyone else, they'd be in the medicine cat den already.' Leaf thought angrily, wondering why Blaze couldn't be nice for once to his little sister.

They all went their separate ways again, and began to do what they had been doing before, but everyone's spirits were a bit lower. Leaf suppressed a smile as she saw as Mist helped put out the flames, she purposely splashed Blaze and got him soaked. She smiled at the normality as Mist then looked all innocent as Blaze accused her. "I missed." Leaf heard, as Mist's excuse. She watched, whiskers twitching in barely contained amusement as she watched Mist splash Blaze again, this time in full view, and then run away, laughing.

Vale padded over to Breeze. She seemed to be trying to put a flower in the tree with her power. He watched as she only managed to move it a tiny bit each time she tried. "Want some help? Looks like you're having some trouble there."

Breeze nodded. "I feel sorry for putting a hole in the tree, and I'm trying to give it a flower to say sorry." She meowed.

Vale suppressed a chuckle. "Alright. I think I might be able to help you with that." Breeze watched in wonder as the ground was pushed up before her, the flower standing tall in between two spikes. She stepped forward, gripping the stem in her jaws, and pulled. It came out with ease this time, and she again watched in awe as the ground closed up before her, as smooth as it ever was. Vale grinned at his little sister, his bright grass-green eyes twinkling. She grinned in return, Vale considering this a win for she never really opened up that much, except maybe to Leaf. Breeze set down the flower gently, and sent a gentle breeze that carried it into the tree. She bowed her head in respect, her eyes closed, and tail drooping. Vale followed as he saw her peeking at him through a nearly shut eye. They raised after a moment, and Breeze saw in shock that beautiful flowers had sprouted up and grown all around it. Vale opened his eyes to similar amazement.

Leaf watched, smiling in the background, raising her tail higher and higher, an ivy appearing on the tree, curling up and up it, seeming as it had always been there. Vale lowered the ground in a curving line just so much as it wasn't that deep, just a shallow dip in the ground. Mist finally slowed down to see them there, and waved her tail back and forth, bright clear water splashing into the small dip. Blaze watched with interest, his tail flicking, fire shooting out into the air. He watched, scowling as Leaf shook her head. He extinguished the flames, smoke trailing around his tail instead. Breeze changed the air from hot and humid to a nice gentle breeze, sending it through the clearing. Vale shot a nice, perfectly curved white stone up through the ground right beneath the tree, in between the roots, where there was no flower to take up the space.

* * *

Later that night, when the moon had rose high enough to meet the sky, Breeze woke from a dream, shivering with fear. As much as she tried to though, she could not remember it. Breeze stretched, standing and padding outside of her den, knowing that if she tried to go back to sleep, she would just be laying there for ages before she actually went to sleep.

"Nice night out tonight, isn't it?" A voice startled her, making her freeze.

As she recovered from the shock, she turned to face the speaker. A midnight black she-cat sat there, licking a snowy white paw, her gray eyes twinkling in the moonlight. "Yeah..." Breeze said slowly, wary of this she-cat and her intentions.

"Sometimes the beauty of it just overwhelms me, makes me forget the rest of the world, even if it's just for an instant." The she-cat meowed, her gray eyes staring up at the moon.

_"At least it shuts you up."_ A harsh male voice snapped, and the she-cat winced, as much as she may argue.

"Are you okay?" Breeze asked as she saw the she-cat wince.

"Fine enough, really." Then under her breath, the she-cat muttered, "As much as I can be, anyways." Breeze heard the comment, and felt a burst of anger at the tom who had said that.

"Don't let him hurt you..." She trailed off as she realized she didn't know the she-cat's name.

"I try not to. It's hard though, when your own brother is so mean." The she-cat sighed softly, looking up at the moon again.

"I know." Breeze replied in an equally as quiet voice, turning her head to look up at the moon as well. They sat in silence, two she-cats, both with hurt hearts from their brothers, staring up at the full white moon.

"It's so majestic, isn't it?" Breeze nodded, forgetting the she-cat couldn't see her as they looked up at the moon.

"Beautiful." They both sat there for a long while, in comfortable silence, before Breeze remembered to ask the she-cat her name. "What is your name?"

"Celestial." The she-cat replied casually.

Breeze looked at the she-cat in shock. "C-Celestial?" She stuttered. "M-my name is Breeze."

"I know."

"You do?" Breeze looked away from the moon to meet Celestial's gaze.

"Yes, why wouldn't I?"

"Y-you're a goddess. An Ancient. I'm just a she-cat, a new advisor at that!"

"Oh, I see. You don't know yet, do you?"

"Know what?"

"I'm surprised that Leaf hasn't told you already. Breeze, you are not just an advisor, an she-cat. I'm not sure how to tell you this, but to the Ancients, you are one of the most important cats in the world right now."

"W-what? I am?"

"Yes. There is an prophecy from the stars themselves. We believe it pertains to you and seven others. _The starry ones hold the hope, as long as the breeze carries the falcon, the gray shell holds strong, the lady walks in shadow, the myra is as stubborn as the steel; that the bloody spike will not keep his reign, and the land they walk upon will stay._"

"A prophecy? Me?"

"Yes, and seven others. If you wish to let this prophecy hold as strong as it is foretold, meet me here tomorrow at moonhigh."

"But tomorrow at moonhigh is when I have my vigil!"

"Come or let the world fall. Your choice, Breeze. I believe in you..." The she-cat faded away as the moon started to dip in the sky, and Breeze stared at the place where Celestial had stood in shock. 'Your choice...' The words echoed in her ears. She knew there was no chance of her getting back to sleep now and she padded towards the training arena, deep in thought.

* * *

When the others came to the training arena that morning, they saw it in near destruction, and a Breeze sound asleep on the white rock Vale had put there the day before. Leaf smiled softly, knowing of what had happened. "Come on, let's go elsewhere to train today."

* * *

Breeze woke up, the sun shining in her eyes, blinding her as she opened them. She sighed, figuring all of it had been a dream, that she was just as normal and weak as she ever was. "What are you sighing for? You're one of the most important cats in the world now!" A small voice chirped in her ear.

Breeze stretched and opened her eyes to meet the speaker. It was a small orange kit, one of the kits in the nursery no doubt. "What are you doing in here, little kit? You should go back to your mother. I bet she's worried sick about you!"

"She isn't. She won't be." The little kit replied.

"Why not?"

"She's dead."

"Oh." Breeze felt bad for being so insensitive. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault that the fire took her and the rest of them."

"You poor kit. I'm Breeze. I can take you to the nursery if you want, to get cared for."

"I'm Aurora, and I can shine! Want to see?"

Breeze, lost for what else to do with the kit, agreed. The kit smiled, and as Breeze stared at the kit, it slowly grew brighter and brighter until Breeze had to look away. She realized she wasn't in her den at all! She was still in the training area, which meant... "It wasn't all a dream, was it Aurora?"

The kit slowly stopped glowing. "It was real, Breeze! You are one of the most important cats in the world!" Breeze grinned, her heart glowing nearly as brightly as the kit a moment ago.

"Thank you, Aurora! Thank you!" Breeze couldn't believe it.

Aurora just smiled. After a few moments of happen silence, Aurora chirped again. "So, Breeze, what are you going to do?"

Breeze hadn't been sure before, whether it was the right thing to do it, be an outcast from the Council for skipping or disappearing during her vigil and being spotted, gone that is. But she couldn't just let everyone down, let everyone die, including this kit who had given her so much, whether Aurora knew it or not. "I'm going to do it."

Aurora bounced up and down. "Celestial will be proud of you, Breeze." Breeze wondered if this kit's parents being taken away from her had done this, made her so mature. Aurora would be a great Advisor, that was for sure.


	3. Chapter 2- New Friends

**AN: Before this chapter begins, I am sorry it took so long to update, I had a bit of writer's block. No excuses, I know, but I'll upload two chapters instead! Sorry, but hopefully you enjoy! **

**-Faded ;3**

* * *

_**Ember- Chapter 2 New Friends**_

Breeze spent the rest of the day playing with Aurora, the rest of the Council just thinking she was resting for her vigil later that night. "I'd better go now, and you should feign sleep so they don't think there's anything suspicious." Aurora mewed as the sun slowly dipped in the sky.

"Goodbye Aurora. It was nice meeting you here." Breeze smiled at the kit.

Aurora ran towards Breeze and placed a small paw on Breeze's shoulder. "Same here. Goodbye Breeze, for now."

As Breeze curled up and closed her eyes to feign sleep, she wondered about what Aurora had said. For now...

Breeze was finally broke from her thoughts when the sun reached the horizon by a gentle nudge to her shoulder. "Breeze, it's almost time for your vigil. Wake up."

Breeze feigned stretching and yawning. "Hmm? Oh, hello Leaf!" Breeze greeted Leaf cheerfully.

"When you have been sleeping, be more careful to yawn and say things a bit slowly as you've just woken up." Leaf murmured in her ear. "Now, Breeze, are you ready for your vigil, the night which will deem you an true Advisor?"

"Yes, Leaf. I am ready." Breeze said, but inside her heart was squeezed painfully. She would never become an Advisor, never be able to sleep in this place again, and after this, never see her family again either.

"Okay then, follow me Breeze." Leaf smiled at Breeze, but inside, was hurting a bit too for she knew she may never see her great-grand-daughter again either.

Breeze straightened up, though, and followed Leaf to a small clearing behind the Tall Branch. "I will watch your ceremony through the trees."

"Goodbye, Leaf." And then in a lower tone, "Please say goodbye to them for me."

Though Leaf pretended to not hear, she gave a small nod. "Goodbye Breeze, dear."

Breeze watched Leaf begin to disappear as she walked through the trees, and smiled albeit a bit sadly.

"Are you ready for your vigil young one?" Breeze turned to meet a stormy gray tom, his pelt crackling with lightning, and his solemn gray eyes.

"Yes, Tempest." She dipped her head in respect.

"There is no need for that, young one. The leader of StarClan is as equal as the cats of StarClan themselves."

Breeze raised her head to meet his eyes, her eyes not revealing anything, but inside, she wanted to curl up into a little ball, for she was meeting the leader of StarClan, for star's sake, and in her mind, she had to betray him. "This is all for your own good." She murmured too low for him to hear.

"This is fairly simple young one. Just stay the night on that branch, no speaking, unless there are some unwelcome visitors. In that case, scream like you're being murdered. But it should be fairly quiet." Tempest explained. "I must go attend to other matters now, but I do trust you will do just that."

"Yes, Tempest." Breeze lied.

"Good, good. I will see you in the morning then, young one."

"Goodbye Tempest!" Breeze meowed, before scampering up the tree to the branch where she would have to betray everyone she loved.

"It's all for the greater good." She murmured, a tear sliding down her cheek. "All for you..."

Breeze stared down at her camp, watching for any intruders, thinking it was the least she could do for the Council before she left. "Are you ready young one?" Breeze turned to face the cat who had spoke.

Breeze smiled at Celestial. If she couldn't be sure about anything else, this was the one thing she was sure of. "Yes. I am ready, Celestial."

"Are you sure?"

"If I don't, the world may fall and it would have been all my fault. But if I do, but even if the world still falls, I will at least know I tried." Breeze reasoned, smiling bravely at Celestial.

"Close your eyes then, dear Breeze." Breeze did, and the bright flash that ensued still hurt her eyes, even so.

Breeze opened her eyes to see twelve cats staring at her. "Hello!" She meowed, and that seemed to trigger something as they all began chatting again.

"I'll be back in a moment Breeze. Be good, will you?" Breeze nodded, and again with a bright flash, Celestial disappeared.

"A bit bold aren't you?" A large, muscular black she-cat padded towards her, and even though she said it quietly, it still carried. "I'm Shadow, leader of ShadowClan." Breeze dipped her head in respect. "None of that. I get that all too much back at camp."

Breeze rose her head up to meet Shadow's green eyes staring at her. "I'm Breeze, former Advisor of the Council of the Ancients."

"Former?" Shadow inquired.

"It's a bit of a long story..." Breeze began to tell her tale. "...so tonight is the night of my vigil, and they'll never accept me back if I miss it, which I am..." Breeze trailed off.

"So why did you decide to come then?"

"I reasoned that if I didn't, the world may fall and it would have been all my fault, but if I do, even if the world still did fall, at least I tried."

"You would be a great warrior, I know this." Shadow meowed. As Shadow spoke, there was a bright flash and Celestial appeared.

Celestial looked worried as she appeared, but as she realized everyone was staring at her, she quickly smiled. "A moment and then I will explain to you exactly why you are all here."

"A prophecy, no doubt." Shadow muttered to Breeze.

"Yep." Breeze confirmed.

"Wait, what? Do you know it?"

"Yes, why?"

"I was never told of this prophecy, but we are with the cats of the Afterlife so I just assumed. But could you tell me what it is? I wish to muse it over before we have to decide fully." Shadow explained.

"Ah. I see. Okay, so I believe it went like this... 'The starry ones hold the hope, as long as the breeze carries the falcon, the gray shell holds strong, the lady walks in shadow, the myra is as stubborn as the steel; that the bloody spike will not keep his reign, and the land they walk upon will stay.'"

"Hmm, intriguing." Shadow murmured.

But the two she-cat's thinking was interrupted by Celestial as she started to call for silence.

Every cat went silent, wishing to hear Celestial. "Hello young cats of the Life and Afterlife. Are you all well? Ah, yes, I know, I know. I am not much of a focused cat, if I do say so myself."

A dark, reddish-brown tom interrupted, his dark amber eyes flashing. "Why have you brought us here then? To babble on about the stars and the light?" There was a snort as he continued. "Well, then, I'm having no part of it. Nice meeting you all, but I'm afraid I'm going now. Goodbye." The tom left, leaving the group in a stony silence.

"Well, that wasn't very nice, was it? At least he was polite, like some other times I could mention..." A she-cat muttered under her breath, her sharp green eyes rolling in exasperation.

"Hmm..." Celestial frowned. "Oh well, no matter. I'm sure he'll come around eventually. Anyways, before I get lost in another one of my rants, I must tell you something. There is no matter if you won't pay attention to what I am speaking about. I won't protest, but I do wish you would listen. Any cat who does not feel the need to listen may leave now." Three she-cats left at her words, one looking sheepish and embarrassed as she fell behind the other two she-cats. Breeze saw a she-cat smile bravely at the one trailing behind as the she-cat looked back. "I do know all of your names by heart, but will you tell me all again, if not to help your fellow companions?" There were eight cats sitting in the ring now, once a fair number of twelve.

"I am Gray, sorcerer of the Fellan. I control the power of light, and can see in the dark." A scarred silver tabby she-cat spoke, emerald green eyes flashing with the challenge for someone to deny her.

"Nice to meet you, Gray. My name is Myra, and I am a rune or spell-caster of the Fellan, and I speak the tongue of the Ancients. For instance," Her voice lowers to a murmur. "Shri." A flash of light lit up the clearing, sparks shooting out, red and green. "That is the spell of sparks, a bit flashy perhaps, but I know many more useful spells that I can use in a pinch." The light silver tabby's fiery golden eyes lit up as she explained the spell and what she can do.

The she-cat that Breeze saw smile to the leaving she-cats spoke next. "Lovely to meet you both. I'm afraid I do not hold such a lofty position as you both, for I am merely a rogue out in the world, living with my sisters. We do have our strengths, I must admit. We are not useless." At this, the snowy white she-cat flashed her long pristine fangs and her sparkling green eyes narrowed in concentration as she whipped her tail through the air, a trail of shadow following after it. "As I say, we can take care of ourselves quite well. My name is Lady."

"Pleasure meeting all you ladies. Even though I have no amazing power you all seem to have, I do have my claws and teeth, so for whatever this is about, if we get in a fight, I can hold my own. Ladies and toms, I'm Steele, deputy of the Dark Forest." Dark amber eyes twinkled merrily as the steel gray tom flicked his tail.

Breeze gulped as it was her turn now. "Hello! My name is Breeze, and I am a former member of the Ancient Council. As we all seem to be telling our strengths, I control the wind or air in my paws. It may seem pretty useless, but unlike my water or fire siblings, I do not need any heat or water to use my power, all I need is the air." Happy to be able to show off for once, the dappled she-cat that was Breeze grinned, her sky blue eyes bright. A leaf on the ground lifted up into the air, and a second later, it drifted down to the ground again, in shreds. "Sorry about that, Leaf." She murmured, quiet enough so no one else could hear.

"Again, quite a pleasure to meet you all. I am Shell, medicine cat of the Dark Forest. I am not as useless as all I may seem, however. I can heal anyone in a battle, and I do have my claws and teeth to fight as well. My in depth knowledge about herbs has taught me the deadliest of poisons and combinations that can make someone fall asleep. Of course, I do have my secrets, but one of them is also a strength, which I will share. I am half-Fellan, and I have a power of my own. It is fairly useless to anyone besides me, but in a pinch, I can throw up a shield around me, and perhaps another, I have not tested my power to that extent." A dark gray tom sitting beside Breeze and Shadow meowed, his ice blue eyes calm as he stared at the group around him.

Breeze looked at Shadow, knowing it was her turn now. Her green eyes were solemn as she spoke, but challenging, in a way. "My name is Shadow, and I lead the Clan known as ShadowClan. I have powers as well, though you may not think it, but they were not as natural as most of yours I daresay. They were given to me by my mother and father, who somewhere, live in this realm, though I take residence in the realm of the living."

"Hello, my dear friends." The voice that spoke was deep and carried well, belonging to a tom that Breeze had forgotten about, a large stony gray tom sitting in the corner of the clearing.

Breeze looked at Steele as he gasped. "What? He never speaks! Ever!"

"I don't speak much, Steele, for I do not have much to say. Anyhow, I am a creature brought from the darkness of the Void itself. I am unaware that I have a power if I do, so I just use my strength as well as my teeth and claws to fight. My name is Falcon."


	4. Chapter 3- Changes

Ember- Chapter 3 Changes

Steele just stared at the tom blankly. "You... talked."

The tom let out a deep, echoing laugh. "I am not as stupid as you seem to think. I do have intelligence, as anyone of you do, though I may have come into this world from a different way than you may have."

Steele, too shocked to respond, didn't say anything. Breeze looked at Shadow, unsure what to say.

"Welcome to the realm of speech, Falcon." Shadow nodded to Falcon.

"Thank you Shadow." Falcon meowed gratefully, though his voice was as deep as ever.

Breeze smiled. "Hello Falcon!" She said, following Shadow's lead and trying to make up for Steele's rudeness.

"Pleasure to see you are speaking, Falcon." Shell meowed.

Celestial called for silence once more, and again it was brought upon the clearing except for an occasional murmur from Steele who kept repeating 'He talks...' over and over again.

"Now that you have all introduced yourselves and met, I dare say I should tell you why you are all here. You are all here for a prophecy made by the stars themselves. 'The starry ones hold the hope, as long as the breeze carries the falcon, the gray shell holds strong, the lady walks in shadow, the myra is as stubborn as the steel; that the bloody spike will not keep his reign, and the land they walk upon will stay.'"

"What does that mean?" Lady asked, her sparkling green eyes confused, yet lit up by the midnight.

"We are not entirely sure what it means but what we have gathered is that all of you here, if you still want to help, could help us stop the war that is coming. Help us stop the war that is coming between the light and dark. You all have seen what you are in here to do, so if you still don't want to have anything to do with this, you may leave now if you want. I will take you home and we can act like this never happened." Celestial offered, her speech over and now just curious to see who all would stay.

Breeze stood up and walked over to Celestial. "I will help. If I don't, the world may fall and it would have been all my fault. But if I do even if the world still falls, I will at least know I tried."

Shadow looked at Celestial. "I see her logic and I think the same. I will help, but the thing is, I will have to between my duties as a leader in ShadowClan, or I could ask my deputy to take over for the time being. Which would be best Celestial?"

"It does not matter but it would be best if you were here most of the time because if someone attacks, you can help whoever is here most if the time so there are less losses and casualties, which I warn you there will be now." Celestial meowed.

"I will talk to my deputy about this then." Shadow meowed.

"Does anyone else need a home here while they help in the prophecy?"

Breeze nodded.

"Yes." Lady purred.

"I believe most of us also will stay here but also carry on duties that we carry on in our normal lives." Falcon meowed.

Celestial smiled. "Very well. I do enjoy another's company."

Blaze stared at the ceiling of the den, little flames firing into the air as he breathed. Seed was still in her den, just so he could learn to control his flames even further so he didn't accidentally burn her to death while sleeping. He still had problems, though he wouldn't like to admit it. He had told Seed even so, when she asked why she couldn't come into his den to sleep at night. He couldn't lie; she was his mate, after all.

As he thought of his mate, images flashed through his mind. When he first met her, hiding in those bushes only the age of an apprentice in the Clans. He still remember those words that had burst out of his mouth that day and he wouldn't forget them any time soon. "I won't let anyone ever hurt you Seed." And he promised that. Blaze stretched and stood up, knowing he wasn't getting to sleep anytime soon. Maybe the night air would help.

He stepped out of his den, frowning at the loneliness he sometimes felt when he looked outside. He was set so far away from the others but it was for a reason. Even if he set his den on fire, he would be fine, his skin and fur fireproof, thank the stars. But if the fire spread... He felt sick just thinking about it. Blaze shook his head, taking in the cool night air. For some reason, he thought to look up at the Branch, as it was nicknamed.

Shock and anger ran through his veins until the shock faded away and only the anger remained. _'I always knew you were a traitor.' _

"She's gone!"

Leaf smiled a wistful smile as she heard Blaze's yowl. She always knew Breeze would be up to the task. She knew the consequences, but yet she went. She stared down at the Clan from the trees and sighed. The she-cat looked up at the moon, knowing it was this moon that her younger sister and Breeze had stared up at that night. It was incidentally how she knew about the whole mess. Celestial had confronted her afterwards, and Leaf told her she was on her side. But was it the right choice? What if everyone, everything is all going to die because of her one choice? "I always knew you would be brave enough, Breeze. We all have to make difficult choices for the greater good." She sighed again, before leaping down to a lower branch so she could hear. Leaf knew she wouldn't like what she was about to hear but she had to know, and tell Breeze, if she could.

She watched the leader of StarClan, Tempest, run out of the den and towards Blaze. "You say Breeze is gone?" Tempest asked, his gray eyes flashing. Leaf personally was surprised Tempest actually knew Breeze's name. She guessed cats showed their true colours in a state of emergency.

"Yes, she left us." Blaze seemed to think Breeze was a traitor. Leaf wondered what could have turned such a loving brother into such a hateful cat, at least to his younger sister.

"Maybe she was taken by one of the Dark Forest, perhaps? Eclipse may have had a personal vendetta against the she-cat or maybe one of the Dark Forest but why and how?" Tempest mused, pacing back and forth. "I shall send out a search party, see if they can catch her scent. Blaze, you will lead it. Gather some cats to help."

Leaf clenched her teeth and fought the urge to go tell Tempest that sending Blaze was a bad idea. I guess he didn't pay that much attention to Breeze after all. At least he knew her name. More than he knew about most cats. "I'll need to alert Vale or Mist then, tell them to tail after Blaze and see if they could find Breeze's scent and follow the trail. She knew that Breeze was with Celestial but Breeze couldn't be put down as a traitor! She watched as Blaze entered each of their dens. Thank the stars he wasn't stupid after all.

Celestial stared at the cats in front of her, content. It was so... peaceful for a change. Usually there was too much commotion, and fighting between the Ancients but it had seemed so lonely the past few days she had sat here, alone, yearning to get away from her brother. Sometimes, it seemed that her older sister, Leaf, was the only one on her side. Fate had to worry about the fates of every cat and was so busy she hardly had time to speak to her mates. Time was just more distant than Leaf, and always seemed to be somewhere else. Creating the future, or teaching Rock, his new trainee. Time had been so sad at the loss of his daughter Moon, who could tell the future. Celestial had thanked the stars that Time managed to put aside his grief and train his grandson in the art of fortune telling. Change seemed to hate her, and she didn't know why. When she had first heard of Breeze, she had celebrated inside at first for a moment, before being consumed with guilt. She had finally found some cat who understood what she felt for this oh so many years. And her cousin Oblivion and his mate Twilight were just weird. Or as Leaf would say, evil. But while Oblivion probably was, wanting to destroy everything and blow to ashes what was left, Celestial believed in the good of Twilight. Twilight's feelings were just messed up. She did have two personalities after all, controlling both beginnings and endings. So she only really could talk to Leaf. She was so lonely when Leaf went to train her apprentices, Blaze, Mist, Vale, and Breeze. Celestial sometimes wished she could visit the land of the living, or even the dead realm she watched over, but she could never wipe the shimmer from her pelt. And when she was really lonely one day, she learned she could change the space of her form, like shapeshifting basically, in other words. Celestial turned into a badger, and went to the realm of the living. She became Midnight, and was taken in by a badger called Mystic. She taught her the ways of a badger, and Celestial told Mystic her secret, and was glad, for once in her life, that someone understood. Celestial told Mystic that she had to return, at least for now, and see what was happening in her realm. She had discovered she had been gone for many moons and that the Ancients were worried sick about her. Celestial was torn. It wasn't right to just leave Mystic waiting for her, but she couldn't leave her family either. Leaf, knowing her pain, had told Celestial of an ancient secret that would allow her to deposit a bit of her soul in her badger form and she would never have to leave. And now, every time she was alone, she would review and watch what had happened to her badger self knowing that she couldn't just go into Midnight's life and control her, because Midnight was her own being now, not some toy to be used for her own purposes. Midnight would do the same, and once, they met together and just talked for a while. Celestial was surprised at how much her badger self had changed in the time she had last seen her. Midnight was so wise, and kind. It was beautiful, and Celestial tried to model herself after the badger, to be so caring and selfless.

Celestial was broken away from her thoughts by a scream. She opened her eyes to see a three cats run into the clearing. Lady stood up, and walked towards the three cats, looking concerned. "What happened?"

"We got ambushed!"

"Cats of the Ancient Council Gather Around The Branch!" Tempest called out to the Council. The cats gathered quickly, and looked up at him in expectance. "I have sad news for us all. A cat, while on her vigil for the Council, disappeared. Her name was Breeze. She could control wind and air. You saw what she did to Seed. She is a dangerous cat, and having the audacity to run away during her vigil, we believe she is a traitor. This cat, Breeze, is unstable, and if you see her, get her to me to see with any means necessary. She is now a marked traitor and if you must, kill her or capture her on sight." The Council roared at one of their own going to the "Dark Side" as it would seem.

"She wouldn't leave us. Breeze is not a traitor!" Mist and Vale meowed at the same time.

Blaze shook his head as if he was sad. "She is; I saw her on the edge of the Void this morning. Breeze continued, as if it was nothing. I couldn't bear to tell anyone else but you both this. It would split the Council apart." Vale and Mist looked heartbroken at the thought.

"She abandoned us. For the Dark Forest. I would've never thought." Mist whispered, her eyes darkening. "Our own sister, a traitor."

Leaf watched, her head shaking, and claws dug deep into the bark of the tree she was hiding in. She was on the verge of jumping onto the Branch and just screaming about how they were all wrong! She couldn't believe Blaze had told such a lie. "No, no, no!" She muttered, closing her eyes tightly. But she would have to explain how she knew that and that meant revealing existence of the Ancients to everyone and that was dangerous. Last time they did that, their older brother died for it, in the mistaken thought that if they killed an Ancient, they would get their power. They couldn't go through that again, especially in such a time of turmoil. She took a deep breath. She couldn't tell Breeze this. It would break her very being. She knew that she would be an outcast and possibly never able to return but she never knew it would get this bad, that everyone, including her only family, would come to hate her. A flash of light attracted the cats' attention as Leaf, unable to hear any more, disappeared into the deepest essence of time that the Ancients lived in.

* * *

**AN: Before I end this chapter, I'd like to know, guys, do you like the switching POVS? If not, I'll just keep with Breeze and just a side note, I may not always do this but for this chapter it seemed appropriate and I thought I should let it on what is happening back at Breeze's home and some of the other character's backstories. Hope you enjoyed and please let me know!**

**-Faded ;3**


	5. Chapter 4- The Fight

**AN: Before I continued this chapter of the story, I really wanted to wait for reviews and see what you think but I had some spare time and I thought I'd work on another chapter. Everything seems to be going bad, doesn't it? Well, let's see just what happened to the cats of the prophecy shall we? Enjoy!**

**-Faded ;3**

**P.S. Also, as a side note before we begin, to explain the double spacing and why there are dashes instead of the full lines, I am uploading this on my IPod's Notes app. I can't do the full lines on here and when I do just one space between the lines, it creates two on the Fanfiction documents. Anyways, enjoy! :3**

Ember- Chapter 4: The Fight

"We got ambushed!" A silver she-cat with a black spot over her left eye meowed.

"By who, Jinx?" Lady seemed to be handling the situation well and the she-cat looked fairly calm already.

"By a dark blue-grey tom with really dark amber eyes and..." Breeze recognized this cat as Eternity, the cat tasked with controlling death. He was feared by all, or at least what he controlled. "There was this dark ginger tabby tom with fiery amber eyes as dark as the first." Breeze glanced at Celestial, recognizing this as Spike, the Ancient of war. Celestial looked worried. "There were three more cats there, a dark brown tabby she-cat with a missing eye though the other one was a dark amber, like the rest, a scarred snowy white she-cat with dark green eyes, and a really dark ginger tom with a black tail tip and dark amber eyes." Breeze recognized this last cat as her brother, Blaze.

"Blaze, why would you do this? Don't you understand? We're trying to save you, not destroy you!" Breeze whispered, stricken.

Breeze felt a tail tip brush her shoulder. "I feel the storm is growing stronger. I am sorry about your brother Breeze." Shadow's voice comforted Breeze. "But let's listen and see if we can find anything else out about our..."

Breeze could tell Shadow didn't want to hurt her with the fact Blaze, her brother, was now an enemy. But Breeze had resigned herself to that fact. She would have to forget who her family was, and just fight against whoever was against her like any other random tom or she-cat. "Enemy." Breeze finished, her eyes darker than usual.

"How did they ambush you, Jinx?" Lady asked, but it wasn't Jinx who answered.

It was a dark gray she-cat who answered this time, her twisted claws digging into the ground and her green eyes focused. "They sprung from the bushes in front of us as we pushed our way to what we thought was the exit of this place. We were quickly surrounded and it was only the fact that we thought this was some normal ambush that saved us. We rarely use our powers outside unless we are in severe danger or just messing around, and so we just fought with our teeth and claws and we think that took them by surprise. We were able to use that to our advantage, and escape."

A loud yowl echoed from the bushes, accompanied by the loud pawsteps of several cats running. "I swore they went this way!"

Celestial looked at the cats, and Breeze could tell she was worried. "I can take only four back at a time. I will take you three and another first, seeing as you three haven't used your power as much as everyone else, I'd guess."

Every cat looked to Shell, and he glared back at them. "I can hold my own in a fight, take someone else who needs it."

The dark gray she-cat looked at Lady. "Come with us, sister. You have as much control over shadows as we do. Let us for once hand the fighting to some cat else."

"Widow, I can protect myself here. It's fine." Lady protested.

"Come with us, let us spend some time alone just as sisters." Widow meowed softly.

Celestial nodded. "Shadow, since you have the most experience with leading cats, if it comes to a fight, and I'm gone, you lead them. I will support you in any decision you make."

Shadow nodded, and the four, along with Celestial, disappeared in a bright flash of light. "Alright. Who doesn't have an ability? You are going to go next." After no cat said anything. "No special power to fight, that is."

Steele stood up first. "I do not have any power."

"I only have the power to protect myself." Shell meowed.

"Listen, every cat, this does not mean you cannot hold your own, it's just that they have far more power than us, and any cat without one to fight is likely to get killed." Shadow clarified.

Falcon stood up, but did not speak.

"No one else. Okay. That's good enough. The next trip will allow everyone to be safe. Shell, if it comes to a fight before you three can leave, use your power to protect yourselves. One of these cats is an Ancient, and the rest of them more powerful than you'd guess." Shadow ordered.

Breeze dug her claws into the dirt, steadying herself for a fight.

The cats were just outside of bursting into the clearing as Celestial appeared again. "Just go!" Shadow yowled, hoping to speed up the process so no cat would get hurt. The cats burst into the clearing.

"Hello traitor." Blaze spat, and Breeze looked up to see that it was directed towards her.

"Blaze." Breeze didn't say anything more, choosing to not argue with her brother. It was tense enough as it was.

"You are the stupid she-cat that killed me, aren't you?" The snowy white she-cat asked Shadow, her eyes narrowed.

"I will not allow any cat to take over my Clan, especially an evil tyrant such as you Snowstar." Shadow meowed, perfectly calm.

"Hello Twisted. Fancied a nice stroll, did you?" Gray meowed, licking a paw.

"I will make you regret that, you witch!" Twisted, who Breeze assumed was the brown tabby she-cat with an missing eye, growled.

"We are all witches and warlocks in the Fellan, whether our speciality be in a different place." Myra meowed lightly.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you both. I never did like you anyway." Twisted hissed.

"Et maledicam maledicentibus tibi, Gray, et quod ab his repetita Myra, venefica, quod fieri potest." Eternity hissed.

"I curse you Gray and Myra to be killed by the Twisted Witch, whatever may happen." Gray translated. "Well, that's cheery." She meowed, and a ball of light exploded above Eternity's head.

"Stop this tomfoolery now! We have a job to do and that is to make sure Celestial doesn't stop this war!" The dark ginger tabby yowled.

There was instant silence amongst the group. "Where is Celestial?" Spike growled.

"How are we supposed to know? She never showed up! We wanted to become _Curatrics_ (Guardians, a spell Myra knew to summon a guardian to help her) of you Ancients and she was supposed to tell us how, but she never came!" Myra bluffed.

"It was terrible!" Breeze agreed.

As they spoke, a blood red tom slowly appeared behind Spike. "It was so _protego_ (protect, an instruction in Latin to the Curatric she summoned) of her!" Myra frowned. "Hmm, that wasn't the right word, was it?" She mused. "Tribus (On three)." She paused. "Hmm, that's not it either! Tres! (Three!)"

Every cat sprung into action, at least on Breeze's side, knowing at least some of the Ancient tongue. Light exploded against Eternity from Gray, keeping him well distracted. Shadow fought against Snowstar, but they were the only ones to have a normal fight, just using claws and teeth. They rolled through the clearing, biting and scratching each other, as if it was their final battle. Myra fought Twisted, summoning her own blade of light to fight Twisted's shadow one. The guardian Myra summoned was clawing at Spike's neck, blood already staining its fur. Breeze knocked over Blaze with a single gust of wind, and blew out every flame he sent at her with another gust. She couldn't allow herself to hurt her brother so she only protected herself, fighting fair and carefully, knowing what she could do if she tried. "Blaze, I am not a traitor. I am only trying to save you from this war! This war will kill so many cats, Blaze. Maybe even Mist and Vale, or Leaf!" Breeze meowed as she defended herself from the balls of flame that were flung at her.

"You lie." Blaze spat, trying to break free of the air bubble he was trapped in. She pulled the oxygen out of the bubble, until he fell unconscious. She let go of the bubble and her brother could breathe again, only he wouldn't try to hurt her this time.

"I'm sorry Blaze. It's for your own good." She whispered, before running in to aid Myra, who's spell was fading fast. A strong gust of jar slammed into Twisted's side, throwing her off balance, and making her lose the concentration she had to keep to keep her shadow blade.

"_Somnum_. (Sleep.)" Myra whispered, and Twisted fell onto her side, unconscious. "Thanks Breeze." Breeze nodded, smiling.

Myra ran to help her Guardian, who was in danger. Breeze ran to Gray, who seemed to be falling back. Wind sliced through Eternity's pelt, pushing him back and allowing Gray to knock him unconscious with a large ball of light that exploded against his head. Breeze's eyes searched for Shadow, to see if she could help her friend, but Shadow was already padding towards Spike, ready to take him on alongside the Guardian and Myra. A bright flash if light announced Celestial's arrival. Breeze, Gray, Myra, and Shadow ran towards Celestial, the Guardian fending Spike off until they left. "Celestial!" Spike roared, throwing off the Guardian.

But they disappeared in a flash of light, just in time.

* * *

**AN: A bit shorter than usual, but it seemed best to end this chapter there. I will take your reviews into consideration, I promise, though I will be uploading and writing these whenever I can, so I'm sorry if I write these without seeing your review first. By the way, that was Latin you saw from Myra, or the ancient tongue. I am using Google Translate to translate, so sorry if the translations are bad. I will put them in italiacs so you know when Myra is saying a spell or just talking. And I will have the translations in parentheses next to it. But I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, seeing how some of our characters fight. Hope you enjoyed! **

**-Faded ;3**


	6. Chapter 5- A Bad Feeling

**AN: I am sooo good at waiting! But yeah, I've had some time and figured I'd start working on another chapter! I am going to take your decisions into account though, but I haven't really gotten any reviews or anything. It's literally an afternoon after I uploaded the last two chapters, 2 & 3 but I'm kind of bored and I do have some spare time so I think I'll continue this now. By the way, just saying this now, I'm not one of those people that needs reviews to continue. It's basically whenever I'm in the mood or have time to write basically, and I do try to keep on a timeframe. But as you can see already, I fail horribly. :P. So I'm going to try to update pretty regularly but don't count on me for that. I'm bad with knowing what day it is alone! XD! No excuses, I know (but I am XD!) and I probably should stop babbling and boring you all, so I hope you enjoy!**

**-Faded ;3**

Ember- Chapter 5: A Bad Feeling

They appeared in a small cave, a small hole in the ceiling the only source of light. "Welcome to my secret place. We are safe, and quite hidden, for we are in a cave below one of the great few forests in the Void." Celestial meowed, gesturing with her tail.

"It seems you were, indeed, in a fight." Shell meowed, his dark icy blue eyes scanning them. He rushed over to Shadow to get a closer look of her wounds. "It does seem magic lowers a great deal of damage." Shell mused, looking at her wounds closely, though of course meaning the rest of them, having no wounds whatsoever. "Come with me, Shadow." He led her to a small place that already looked like a medicine cat den, moss on the ground, with a small dip in the ground filled with water.

Breeze followed them, at a loss for what else to do. Shell nodded at Breeze before padding into a corner of the cave, and scooping out some cobwebs with his paw. "If you want to help, wet some of that moss with that water there." He instructed Breeze, and she did so.

As Breeze tore off a piece of moss from the floor, Shadow began to speak. "Breeze, you did good with your fighting today. I saw you helped and took care of our enemies. Today was relatively clear of wounds, but I fear it may not be the same next time. In the battlefield, your family and friends are only your enemies, or allies. Be prepared to shed some blood next time. Not every battle is so clean, and from what I've seen back in the Clans, we were lucky to escape without anymore than one wounded. Do you understand, Breeze?" Shadow asked, her eyes fixed on the younger she-cat.

Breeze nodded, looking at Shadow. "But he was my brother, Shadow. I couldn't hurt or maybe even kill him!"

"I know, Breeze, I know. But in times like these, from what I've learned in the Clans, if your family is in a different Clan and you're fighting them, you can't spare them. Your brother obviously feels that way, and I'm sorry for that." Shadow meowed, her voice calm.

Breeze closed her eyes tightly, before opening them again. "Okay, Shadow."

Shadow could tell Breeze couldn't accept what she was saying, but she didn't push it. Breeze would learn eventually, whether it be hard, or, well, it was never easy, fighting your family. She didn't want Breeze to go through what she had gone through so young. Her mother had been killed by her father, just for a measly scrap of food that Shadow's mother was only going to give to Shadow. Shadow had ran away that day, faced with the harsh truth that cats will do anything for what they want, even if it did mean killing their loved ones. And you had to try and stop that, even if it only led to the same thing. Shadow stared at the wall for a bit, wondering what it would have been like to have a sister like Breeze. Would it have been easier or harder, someone to depend on and protect? "I'm sorry Breeze. You shouldn't have to think about stuff like that yet." Shadow finally said, feeling sorry for the young she-cat.

"It's fine. And you're probably right. I do have to learn stuff like this if we do, go into a war." Breeze's eyes met Shadow's and Shadow was surprised with the determination that she met there.

"I could mentor you, if you want, teach you some of the things I know and maybe try to teach you some fighting moves. I expect you haven't learned to fight yet without your powers?" Shadow asked.

"No, I haven't. I was supposed to learn that after I mastered my powers, but as you know..." Breeze trailed off.

"Yeah." Shadow meowed, feeling sympathy for Breeze.

"I accept your offer though. Could you teach me?" Breeze asked, after a bit of silence between them.

Shadow smiled. "Yes, I'd love to."

Shell was unsurprised to see the two she-cats chatting as he came back with the cobwebs. "Do you have the moss I asked for?"

Breeze nodded, and he smiled. "Good. Would you like to be my helper for today?" He asked, for he always could use a paw and Breeze obviously wanted to stay near Shadow.

"Sure." Breeze answered.

"It's probably good that you learn some healing anyways. Here, hold these cobwebs for me." Shell instructed, before taking the moss from Breeze. He turned to face Shadow. "This may sting." Shadow nodded, and he appreciated the leader's resolve. Trying to be gentle, he rubbed the moss over Shadow's wounds. "This will lessen the risk of the wound being infected and it's always good to clean the wound, who knows what dirt and grime you have in there?" Shell explained to Breeze as he worked. Shadow seemed to be used to the sting, she didn't even flinch at some of the worse spots. He did suppose she was in the Clans, where everything was always on edge, the Clans never agreeing. It was a good life, being with some cats you can trust and love, but it wasn't one of the best, at least to him. And who knows what happened to her before she joined the Clans. Finished, he turned to Breeze. Shell was pleasantly surprised to see that she knew what she was doing, or at least some of it, as she handed him the cobwebs. "This will help stop the bleeding and hopefully let the wounds heal faster." He explained as he placed the cobwebs on Shadow's wounds. Curious, he asked her what happened.

"I'm sure you've heard of Snowstar and recognised her description when Jinx was telling us what the cats looked like. We have a old grudge between us, as it is. Snowstar was trying to take over the Clans. She got WindClan and RiverClan, but she got too confident and tried to take over both ThunderClan and ShadowClan at once. We, Thunderstar and I, were the ones to kill her, but I was the one to find out her plan, and so she blamed me. About the only time our two Clans stopped fighting, Thunderstar's cats always thinking we stole their prey or something like that just because we're descendants of TigerClan, who were ordered by the others, no less, to stay in the darkness for a moon. An old prejudice that can never be wiped away."

"It's the same with some of us in the Dark Forest. We are not all evil, sure we did a bad thing to get us there, but we aren't perfect, no cat can attest to that. Just our mistakes were worse than the ones those in StarClan made." Shell meowed, his eyes fixed on his paws as he carefully covered Shadow's wounds with cobwebs. "I even know two cats that weren't supposed to be in the Dark Forest. A medicine cat who didn't understand that sometimes she wouldn't be able to save every cat, and so she just walked over the border. Her grand-daughter, a pure golden-hearted she-cat named Victory, didn't want her grandmother, Demeter, to be alone with none of her family, walked over after her." He smiled at the thought.

"That's so...so kind." Shadow meowed, and from the sad glow in her eyes, Shell could tell she didn't have such a kind life herself.

"You are all good." Shell meowed. "Have a good rest and you should be feeling better. None of your wounds were too deep, just deep enough to be bleeding."

"I always thought those twisted claws weren't doing anything for Snowstar." Shadow grinned. "C'mon Breeze, show me what you can do." She told the younger she-cat, padding off into a far corner of the cave. Shell watched them leave, having already known Shadow wouldn't have taken it easy on her wounds; she looked like she was a tough cat.

"Good job fighting today, Myra. I liked your strategy. I'm surprised they didn't know all that much of the ancient tongue. Spike must have not realized it. But we need to be careful. Any cat we face could know what we said today. We need to think of code words, and plan our next move. I have a bad feeling that they were coming for us today, and this place isn't going to remain secret for long." Gray meowed, pacing back and forth in front of Myra.

"Spoken like a leader, Gray." Gray looked up to see Celestial there. "Go on, I agree. But let's keep this feeling to us for now. They deserve some peace for now." Celestial meowed, nodding.

"Stis treis." A deep voice rumbled. Gray looked up to see Falcon there.

"On three." Myra whispered. "Yes, that's perfect Falcon! The Void language is only known by us spell casters in the Fellan! Oh, and you of course."

Gray nodded. "Perfect then. We will have to arrange times for training. Both in the language of the Void, and fighting in all ways. Regular fighting, and testing powers of those. Celestial, what do we do next?"

"I do not know. The prophecy may hold clues. Wait... no. I know a better place. We can go to the Pool of Sight. It will explain to us what we greatest question. But it will only work for those who have the Ancients in their blood." Celestial meowed.

"Does it work for you?" Gray wondered aloud, as Celestial was an Ancient.

"Yes." Celestial nodded.

Gray felt a sickening feeling. "I think I know how they found us." She meowed.

Myra's eyes darkened and a red spark shot out of her tail. "The Pool. They're using the Pool of Sight."


	7. Chapter 6- Plans

AN: Sorry, guys, writing this beforehand again. Even if I get no further reviews, I'm still going to upload and kind of switch back and forth. I'm a bit bored at the moment and have nothing else to do so I'd thought I would write another chapter. So for this chapter, we change perspectives again. Hope you enjoy!

-Faded ;3

P.S. I know the updating is a bit sporadic and sorry about that. Hopefully, or at least what I hope to keep, is at least one chapter every two weeks. ;)

Ember- Chapter 6: Plans

Blaze's eyes slowly opened, and he remembered what happened. He stood up to assess the damage and saw Spike standing there, his eyes narrowed and lashing. "They got away." He growled.

"How were they stronger than us? We outnumbered them, let alone have the god of war, and Death on our side!" Blaze fumed.

"I can explain to you why each and every one of you fell leaving me outnumbered and mind clouded by my search for Celestial. Snowstar fell because of some petty squabble between her and one of the she-cats we were fighting against. She didn't use her true power either. She is supposed to be a fighter, one of the best recruits I could ever have. Meanwhile you, not even an experienced warrior, is doing better than the rest of this group of weaklings! And so now Snowstar is both injured and unconscious while they should be the unconscious ones, if not dead!" Spike's eyes grew darker, darkening into a blood red. "Eternal subsided to one of the more inexperienced cats we have, using her power to fuel his. But he was being stupid, and his spell didn't work. And so he was knocked unconscious by the very cat he cursed! Twisted is just broken. You'd think she would be a powerful warrior because of it, but no, she convinces one of the greatest warriors we have to do her deeds! You, Blaze, were unable to do any damage in that battle. That she-cat you were fighting didn't even go offensive after you were down! She just blew you down and knocked you out. Anything you tried to do was impossible! I advise you to fight another cat when we are fighting again. You aren't going to get anything done with her." Spike rolled his eyes.

"You dare insult the very one who could cause your death in an instant?" Spike turned around to see Eternal standing there.

"I'm starting to think you aren't as great as you go on about. Can't even kill two measly she-cats meanwhile you'd go on about killing an Ancient!" Spike snorted.

"I am Death. I may do whatever I like. And bare this in mind, I am rather busy. Controlling the hundreds of deaths in two realms is difficult, you know. I sometimes wonder what it'd be like if everything was just...gone, or if I stopped killing things. What would happen afterwards? Maybe I would finally have some peace from this life of only destruction and death."

"You were unconscious for half a day!" Spike yowled.

"A millisecond." Eternal corrected.

"To you, maybe. I'm trying to fight a war here! And everything will bend under my power!" Spike laughed maniacally.

"You have some Oblivion tendacies, don't you sometimes?" Eternal meowed.

"He just wants to destroy everything. I want to destroy everything, and then rule over it. There's a difference you see. Oblivion will just keep destroying until everything is gone. I will only destroy so much that it benefits me." Spike explained.

"That is so much more different. I see now." Blaze caught a glimpse of Eternal rolling his eyes, but he didn't tell Spike, happy to hear his reaction.

"Yes! You see now..." Spike kept talking, his voice loud, but Blaze was listening to Eternal.

"I just stop listening to him when he's like this. You'd never think the god of war would be so much like the god of destruction and annihilation, would you?" Eternal laughed. At a worried glance from Blaze, he grinned. "Spike can't hear us now over the sound of his own voice."

Blaze grinned. "Oh really? Hey, I have an idea."

"Insult him in as many ways possible? Already done, I'm afraid." Eternal flicked his ear casually. "I'm a cat too you know."

"Well, it'll still be funny." Blaze laughed.

"Quite true." Eternal agreed, nodding.

But, their fun was interrupted by Snowstar waking up and stalking over. "What are you all doing? I can't be unconscious with ruckus like this!" Snowstar rolled her eyes. "So I'm going to guess we lost by the way Spike has been going on about forever?" She remarked dryly. "That stupid she-cat is not going to get the best of me again. Next time I see her, I am going to rip her head off and she's going to be gone for good." She muttered under her breath.

"Spike said that you should use your power when you are fighting because it will make you stronger and you won't be bested by just a normal she-cat." Blaze meowed.

"She's not normal." Snowstar growled.

"I didn't see any special power she was showing off as you were fighting her, Snowstar." They were interrupted by Spike's loud growl.

"She doesn't show off, Spike. She just sneaks around and uses it to get you out of nowhere. Do you think I knew this when I died?" Snowstar hissed.

There was silence for a bit. "I do admit, that would get rid of that she-cat quite nicely." Snowstar smiled a cold smile, her eyes hardened. "So what's our next move?"

"We set off at dawn's first light." Celestial meowed, after explaining everything they had discovered to the others.

Afterwards, Breeze came up to Celestial. "Why can't we just teleport there?"

"If you were from any other place, that would be a silly question. The Pool of Sight is sacred, it is only to be used for the most important of things, and one cannot merely teleport there." Celestial explained.

"But what if you didn't care it was sacred and teleported there anyway?" Breeze wondered.

"Well, you would likely see nothing and there is a special border that expands for a day's trek in any direction around the pool. We would be very lucky and we would have to be at light's speed to even think of getting there before sunset."

"Would this be the same with the Moonstone?" Shadow asked, her eyes narrowed, daring Celestial to deny that the Moonstone was a sacred place.

"Yes. Anywhere where life meets the dead and we touch the stars." Celestial meowed. "But you should stop worrying about the trip tomorrow. You should get some rest. We have a long day's journey tomorrow."

AN: By the way, I did not forget about Twisted there, the others don't think they need to wake her up, her being less experienced and "broken" as Spike put it. Also sorry for the short chapter, it just seemed fitting to end the chapter there. Hope you all enjoyed!

-Faded ;3


	8. Chapter 7- The Pool Of Sight

**AN: Yeah, guys (and girls) this is again written before any you have responded. Sorry but no one has responded and I've actually waited quite a while after writing those last few chapters. Well, I will continue as I have been doing, switching and then keeping the same perspective other chapters. Hope you all enjoy**!

Ember- Chapter 7: The Pool Of Sight

Breeze didn't sleep well, horrible nightmares coursing through her head.

She stood beneath a tree, it falling slowly down on top of her. But she couldn't move. It was like her paws were stuck in mud. "Help!" She tried to scream but no one answered. All she saw was endless streams of cats running past her. She heard a horrible screech. Breeze realized it had come from herself as the tree shattered all the bones in her body. She seemed to rise from her body, up and up and up. But there was no eternal darkness or light to tell her she had moved on. Breeze had realized she had closed her eyes in wait, but now she opened them. She saw what those cats were running from. She couldn't turn to look away as cats couldn't keep up and fell into the eternal black abyss that had opened up behind them in large cracks. Breeze watched in horror as chunks of earth fell beneath some cats' paws.

The dream changed abruptly. She saw five cats standing in an odd shape. They all spoke as one, and Breeze felt her heart squeeze inside though she didn't know why. Their next words told her why though. "Ultimo custodes, et omnes intra infernum custodimus. Nos autem iam non huius regni tutamen. Feles et secum habet finem. Animas recolitur sanguine perditus, vovemus, tueri, et in perpetuum vota nostra. Sed ultimam sacrificii sidera nobis ut animas nostras ad spem, ut eruamini de hoc saeculo in consummationem. Quod animae, ut novum et definitivum sacrificium Hic sanguis repetebant. Sanguine Lacrimae flebat Animas seruantur, erit, quo bello cecidit. Vita igitur et nos suscepistis, et restitui." No... Breeze thought, her eyes widening. 'The Last Guardians, We Guard The Afterlife And All Those Within. But No Longer Can We Protect This Realm. It Has Come To An End And Cats Along With It. Souls Renewed, Blood Lost, We Vow To Protect, And Will Forever Keep Our Vows. Now, With A Final Sacrifice, We Give Up Our Souls To The Stars In Hope This World Will Be Saved From Utter Destruction. May Be Souls Renewed, And Blood Regained With This Final Sacrifice. Blood Shed, Tears Wept, Souls Kept, We Will Be The Only Fallen In This War. Take Us Now And Give Them Back The Lives You Took.' Breeze recognized the sacrifice ritual as clearly as day. Her mouth was dry as an feral screech rose from each of the cats, and the ground turned red around them. "No!" She screamed, having the sinking feeling she could have saved them all. The cats faded away before her eyes and her eyes focused to a blood red pool in the middle of the clearing. There was a message there, black as night amongst the blood. It echoed in Breeze's head, her heart pounding. 'You are the only ones to stop this from happening. You must destroy the army of war and darkness rising to stop this destruction from happening. You are the only ones left who can save them.' Breeze tried to tell after the voice, "What do you mean?!"

A voice answered her though it wasn't as ominous as the former was. "Get away Steele, can't you tell? She's having a dream. It may be important to what we do next." Breeze recognized the voice as Shadow's.

Breeze closed her eyes tightly, hoping that was just a dream and not what Shadow was suggesting. She yawned, though she was wide awake. "Why are you all huddled about me?" She asked, though knowing fully why.

"You were having a nightmare." Steele meowed, giving Shadow an 'I told you so' look.

"Well, it must have not been important because I don't remember it." Breeze lied. Shadow just looked at her and Breeze could tell Shadow didn't believe her. "It must have been terrifying though, if I woke you all."

Celestial sighed in relief. "Well, I guess it's all for the better. We are all awake and ready to journey to the Pool of Sight. Shell, can you please prepare some traveling herbs for us all?"

Shell nodded. Breeze met his eyes and could tell he didn't believe her either, but she knew he would leave it. She wasn't so sure about Shadow though. "Why don't you all go talk amongst yourselves or something? I will get nothing done if you keep standing here like this."

Breeze pushed the nightmare to the back of her mind for now. She would have to tell some other cat later but not right now. She couldn't put this kind of pressure on the group. It would only bring them down. "Thanks for checking on me though Shadow." Breeze smiled at the older she-cat.

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?"

After a bit of comfortable silence, Breeze spoke. "A bad one." Breeze answered simply.

"I'm sorry you've had such a childhood Breeze. Believe me, I know how hard it is to not have family." Shadow seemed to become distant in some old memory.

Breeze finally dared to think about her nightmare and soon became lost in her thoughts.

The thing that broke her from them was Shell saying that the herbs were ready. "The traveling herbs are ready." Breeze was snapped back to the real world, but was only slightly thankful for it.

Celestial seemed to be happier that they were finally going to leave. "You all, Widow, Angel, and Jinx, do not have to come. You will be perfectly safe here. Neither do any of you. This will be a long journey and I do not expect you all to jump up and shout for joy."

No one volunteered to stay behind. Widow looked at her sisters and then at Celestial. "I believe we shall join you. If they do have the Pool Of Sight, we are not safe here anyhow, and we can help if it comes to a fight. We have fought a many foes before."

Celestial smiled at the she-cats. "I am happy to hear you will join us. We embark as soon as everyone gets their travel herbs from Shell."

Shell rolled his eyes. "Why do we have magic and still rely on this old medicine cat to do all the work?" Shell remarked dryly. "Please be orderly for once and not all go screaming at me that you need them first. You would not believe the things I've heard as a medicine cat. The maturity of those apprentices, I daresay." Shell sighed.

Breeze filed in behind Steele, Shadow behind her. "What do they taste like Shadow?"

"You honestly have never tried travel herbs? They taste amazing!" Shadow grinned, a glow in her eyes that Breeze couldn't identify.

Breeze couldn't wait now that Shadow had said that. As Shell gave her the herbs, Breeze's tail was flicking back and forth excitedly. She sat beside the den, waiting for Shadow. Shadow sat down beside her, still smiling. She waited for Shadow to begin eating. "Why don't you try them first? You want to eat them all in one gulp, okay?" Breeze nodded and shoved the herbs into her mouth. She nearly spat them out again at the bitter taste.

"Shadow!" Breeze meowed accusingly as she swallowed. "You lied!"

"I was just having a little fun. You know how many apprentices fall for that trick? It's amusing every time." Shadow laughed.

"So you that's what makes those apprentices so excited?" Shell sighed. "Do you realize that I'm the one who has to deal with them spitting them back out?" Breeze laughed at Shell's response. "It's not funny."

Shadow was still grinning. "You should try it sometime. It's funny when you see their faces afterwards. Say you have some new herb in there or something that makes it taste fantastic."

It was Shell's turn to laugh. "I think I'll try that sometime. I have a few claws to pick back home."

Celestial interrupted their laughter. "I will go with Breeze and Shadow first to the border, then Gray and Myra, Steele and Shell, Lady and Falcon, and Widow, Jinx, and Angel."

Shadow and Breeze padded towards Celestial, ready to go. They all could see that Celestial was sorting them in the way of power to protect themselves.

"Are you ready?" Celestial asked them in a low voice.

"Listen, I've had worse wounds this and fought. But this is even bigger than for just my Clan, this is the world. If this falls, no cat will be able to go to an afterlife and there will be nothing to fight for anymore." Shadow meowed, her eyes serious.

"And everyone will be dead." Breeze felt her heart drop to her stomach as she whispered those words.

Before any cat could say anything more, Celestial whispered, "Close your eyes," And they disappeared in a flash of light.

Breeze stumbled as they appeared in a dark looming forest with mist at their feet. "Wow." She whispered in awe at the beautiful dark rushing river in front of her.

"Why are we in the Dark Forest?" Shadow asked, being more sensible than Breeze.

"The Pool Of Sight is deep inside this island." Celestial meowed.

"The Dark Forest holds such a sacred place?" Shadow looked doubtful.

"Not everything is as it seems Shadow." And Celestial disappeared in another flash of light.

"Breeze, what are you looking at?"

"There's something in the river." Breeze pointed with her tail at something stuck on a rock.

"It looks like a pendant that twolegs wear." Shadow breathed. "But how is it here?"

"What are twolegs?" Breeze asked.

"I keep forgetting you don't know. Being isolated from the world isn't all good you know. You'll have to come with me to the Clans sometime and I'll show you everything." Shadow smiled.

Celestial's arrival was marked by another flash. They turned to see it wasn't Gray and Myra, but Falcon instead. She disappeared almost as soon as she arrived. "What happened?" Breeze asked immediately, aware of the order they were to come in.

"I don't know. Celestial just said there's a change of plans and took me here instead." Breeze was surprised at the casual tone in the tom's voice. "Why are we back here?"

"Back here?" Shadow asked suspiciously.

Falcon stared at his surroundings, a familiar pounding in his head. "No, not now." He murmured. But his wishes were not answered and he slipped into a deep forgotten memory.

Instantly he could tell this was not a memory of his past. This was of another's. "Why do you insist on the pool being here of all places?" There was a exasperated sigh. Falcon stared at his surroundings, knowing he was here now. The river still flowed as it did before and so did the mist that danced at his paws.

The voice came from himself this time. "Do you not understand? This land is sacred. Can't you feel it in the air? The river surrounds this island, a protector. This is the place."

The she-cat seemed to think about it. "I wish you weren't right. It doesn't seem right to put such a sacred thing in the middle of such a sacred place."

"I recall a story of another time, this same place." Falcon's voice seemed to begin to echo across the island. "Thousands of cats were running, are running. Blackness chases after them. A cat, trapped on this island, yowls for anyone to join him. A few cats hear him and begin to run. But the darkness appears in front of them. The cat swipes for them as they fall in front of him. He caught one, and pulled her up to safety. 'Thank you,' the she-cat gasped. 'But we have to run. It's coming.' The tom sighed, his eyes solemn. 'I am sorry. I could not let you all die. But instead I have condemned you to a life of solitude in a sea of endless darkness. I am so sorry.' The she-cat didn't understand. 'What do you mean?' She asked. 'Whoever steps a paw on this island are trapped forever. You can't leave. Believe me, I have tried. So many times.' But the she-cat was grateful for her life and she would never forget that. 'But you won't be alone.'" The she-cat seemed to be on the verge of crying, Falcon hearing a sniffle.

"You can't stop there. Please tell me how it ends."

"They lived together, surviving. They built a family, living off the water and food still on the island. One day they realized that the land had come back. And to their joy, the shield around them that had trapped them for oh so long had disappeared. Their children went out to explore, but they chose to remain, on the island that had saved them from the destruction that had killed everyone around them. And they lived happy for as long as they lived.'" Falcon broke suddenly away from the memory.

"You are a beautiful story teller Falcon." Shadow complimented, and Falcon realized, while in the memory, he must have told the story.

Before he could explain that he wasn't exactly the one telling the story, Celestial appeared again with Myra and Gray.

Falcon pondered the memory, analysing it as when any other came to him. And he fell again away from the real world and into memories.

"Interesting." Gray commented as she noticed where they had appeared.

"My Stars. This place is beautiful." Myra gazed around at her soundings.

Breeze felt a sudden rush to run into the forest and all the way to the Pool Of Sight. "Someone is watching us." She blurted out, not knowing how she knew that.

She felt a shift in air and a cat suddenly appeared beside her. Breeze froze for a moment before lashing out, turning around to meet the cat. "Who are you?" She demanded. The cat disappeared again, and reappeared in the forest. Breeze ran after it, needing to know who it was. What if it was an enemy? "Stop!" She yowled after the cat. But it only disappeared and reappeared again, only further away. "Wait up, please!" Breeze sprinted after the cat, not bothering to slow down to catch her breath. "I can't keep up with you!" But it didn't seem to make a difference, the cat only appeared further and further away. Breeze could only run after the places she had seen the cat last. Breeze eventually collapsed, her paws having given out. She saw a pool before her, and her eyes went wide. Flashes of five cats standing around the pool, their feral screech, and the pool just a final blood red appeared in Breeze's mind. But she didn't understand. "Why did you bring me here? It wasn't to just show me the Pool was it? No, you wouldn't have taken me here, I would have come with the others." Breeze stared at a blood red message slowly appearing in the pool. "Drink." Breeze whispered. "Is that what you wanted me to do? Drink from the pool?" The figure appeared again at the edge of the pool, nodding. Breeze closed her eyes, and padded to the edge of the pool. She slowly lowered her muzzle to the water, and drank.

She was running, away from the ground that fell beneath her paws. She heard a yowl. "Over here!" Breeze turned to run at the voice, her paws running as fast as they could. She heard screams of terror as cats plummeted around her. She leaped. As the ground began to fall beneath her paws, she leaped. Her heart sank. She wouldn't make it. For a brief moment Breeze wondered what the afterlife was like, before a strong paw clenched hers and pulled her up. The image changed.

Breeze stood before a tawny brown she-cat, with one beautiful blue eye, and one amber. "Hello Breeze." The she-cat's voice was soft. "My name is Echo. I see the past, present, and future. But I am not as powerful as I sound. My mind was too clouded to see my own, and that is where I fell."

"Echo." Breeze repeated. "Is that why you can't appear in my realm?"

"If you mean because I am dead, then yes. I am trapped in time, forever flitting between the past, present, and future." Echo's eyes were sad.

"Why can't you go back and make yourself live?" Breeze asked.

"You don't understand. I cannot change it. I can only see it and give advice to those who believe in the supernatural. But even if I could, thousands of cats could die or live based on my decision. Only if I knew it would save them, I would go back. But I can only see the past and future." Echo explained.

"But why did you show me those images Echo? How can you meet me here? And how did I get here so fast?" Breeze asked.

"This is a very sacred place here Breeze. It holds the past, present, and future in it's soil. This is where some of the most life changing events happen. This is the only place I can appear, if only for a little while. But this pool, I can connect to cats in dreams. I can change time Breeze, but only a limited amount. In fact that's why I died. I saved a cat but time could only allow some cat to die that day. I sacrificed myself, Breeze."

"Who did you save?" Breeze asked softly.

"I saved my son, Rock." Echo whispered.

"But why did you show me these things Echo? Why not the others?" Breeze questioned.

"Shadow is the only one near understanding besides Falcon. Falcon has his own memories to worry about. He doesn't need to worry about the future too. Shadow would tell some cat. She's a good cat, honest, but it would only stir up trouble. Do not think she wouldn't know that. The secrecy would make her tell some cat. And it may not be you Breeze. Do you see why I could only tell you? But she will understand if you tell her, and she will keep it secret. You may not understand, but Shadow takes it upon herself to keep you safe, Breeze. Like she couldn't her brother, who died as a newborn." Echo sighed. "So many sad things happen in the world. This power I have in my paws is both a blessing and a curse, Breeze. It may allow me to see all the good things, but both the bad." The she-cat was silent for a moment. "And Breeze, those images I showed you were of the future, if you all can't stop the renewal. Please remember my story Breeze, of my sacrifice, and all sacrifices aren't in vain. No matter how hard they may be."

The beautiful she-cat and their surroundings faded to black."I promise Echo." Breeze whispered.

"Breeze, Breeze! Wake up!" Some cat yowled.

"Is she breathing?"

"She is not dead!" The same cat as before growled.

Breeze opened her eyes to see it was moonhigh. She saw Shadow standing over her, with tears streaked down her fur. "She was telling the truth." Breeze managed to say before everything faded to black once again and she slipped back into unconsciousness.

**AN: Hopefully this makes up for some of the rather short chapters. This is 3,000 or so words so I do hope you did enjoy. Some of the past and future stuff may seem confusing and I'm sorry if it does. If so, it would help if you would leave a review maybe giving an idea of how I can clarify it? Thanks everyone. ;)**

**-Faded ;3**


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